Mr Trump said the designation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism was long overdue, and he promised a new wave of sanctions as part of a "maximum pressure campaign" over the North’s development of nuclear weapons that could soon pose a direct threat to the US mainland.

North Korea joins Iran, Sudan and Syria on the blacklist.

The North had been designated for two decades until 2008 when it was removed in a bid to salvage international talks aimed at halting its nuclear efforts. The talks collapsed soon after and have not been revived since.